Improved nut-cracker



UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

IMPROVED NUT-CRACKER.

Specification forming part of Leiters Patent No. eE0,25, dated December 8, 186

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, TIMOTHY EARLE, of Smithfield, in the State oi Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Nut-Crackers; and I do hereby declare that the following specification, taken in connection with the drawings, making a part of the same, is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

Figure l is a perspective view. Fig. 2 is a View of head, showing the location ot' the spring for returning the cracking-lever. Fig. 3 is a front view ot' the adjustable back rest -`or the nut to oe cracked.

In the accompanying drawings, a, represents the bed-plate or frame to which the several parts of the machine are attached. The front end is about twice the width of the rear portion, and is furnished on each side with a bracket of about two inches in height, for the purpose of affording bearings for the operating parts.

The crushing-lever consists of the handle m and the cam o, into which the end is formed, and has a spindle, i, secured to it, which fits into a bearing formed in the right-hand bracket. There is also upon this bracket a sheath, b, for the spiral spring f, which surrounds a portion of the spindle t, and acts to keep the cam-face on the crushing-lever constantly pressing against a projection, d. The axis of this sheath is coincident with the axis of the bearing for the spindle i', and is formed within the cylinder-like head, which is east upon the bracket for this purpose, as well as to provide ajournal for the spindle. rIhe other bracket has a hole furnished with a thread to receive the screw k, the axis of which is on the line of the spindle i produced. The end of the screw beyond the termination of the thread is fitted to turn freely in a back rest, g, Figs. 2 and 3, the extremity being riveted over a collet, so that as the screw is turned to the right or to the left the back rest will be advanced toward the crushinglever or retreat from it. The lower end of the back rest is forked, n, and rides upon a horizontal plate, d, formed in the head of the frame, and is thereby prevented from turning with the screw.

The distance of the brackets from each other should be sufficiently great to allow of a range of motion for the back rest equal to the accommodation of the largest variety of nuts used for the table between the back rest and the Crusher.

In using the machine the position of the back rest is iirst adjusted for the kind of nut to be cracked by means of the screw k. The handle of the crusher is then raised, and by the action of the springf in keeping the camsurface c constantly bearing against the projection d the space, as it was between the crusher and the back rest when the handle was down, is widened. The nut is held between the forelinger and thumb of the left hand against the back rest, which is made slightly concave to assist in holding it, and with the right hand the handle m is brought down. It is obvious that the head of the crusher will, in the act of bringing down the handle, be advanced toward the back rest by the effect of the caurface c, and break the shell of the nut which is held between the two. A well-known device to accomplish the same object consists of a pair of jaws with their inner surfaces concave and diverging, so as to take in nuts of various sizes at that part of the angle which will best accommol date them. Although this machine breaks the shell sufficiently well, it also crushes the ker nel, unless care is taken not to bring thejaws too close together, and from the angle formed by thcjaws the pressure upon the sides of the shell is not unil'orm, so that one portion of the nut is crushed more than is necessary in Order to break the rest. In my machine these objections are obviated, and by means of the adjustable back rest all sizes of nuts can be cracked equally well, the proper method of Operation being to place the back rest in such a position that the shell will be cracked just as the finger-guard o on the handle is brought down to the bed-plate.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A crusher, m, which has a lateral motion imparted to it by the action of a camsurface, c, or its equivalent, in combination with a stationary back rest, g, substantially as described, for the purposes specified.

2. The use of a back rest, g, which can be adjusted for nuts of Various sizes when applied to a nut-cracker, substantially as described.

TIMOTHY EARLE.

Vitnesses:

BEY F. THURsTON, STEPHEN A. COOKE, Jr. 

